Tabbers are devices that are used, typically, for sealing self-mailers. The term “self-mailer” is applied to one or more sheets of printed material folded at least once to make a convenient smaller piece for mailing without an envelope. Being folded, self-mailers are closed on one edge but must be sealed on the other edges in order to maintain a flat, closed state during mailing. A popular sealing device is the tabber, which applies a piece of adhesive tape in one or more places along the openable edges of the self-mailer.
There is a rich prior art and a variety of devices available on the market directed to sealing self-mailers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,819 discloses a tabber that uses a continuous tape. U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,034 discloses a tabber that employs singulated tabs mounted on a backing tape. These devices and the art available serve the high-volume portion of the self-mailer market. More specifically, that portion of the market in which a few thousand or more pieces are to be tabbed and sent through the mail. Because of the emphasis on processing high volumes, this equipment employs more or less automatic handling of the media as well as automatic placement of the tab on the media. As a consequence, some adjustment to the equipment is necessary prior to use in order to correctly handle the different sizes and thickness of media. Also, automatic media handling favors designs wherein the media moves in a continuous fashion through an apparatus having an inlet and a separate exit so that actual time within the apparatus is minimized. Further, this equipment is relatively expensive and can be justified only when the equipment costs can be amortized over the thousands of self-mailers that are tabbed.
A common problem encountered in the use of tape to seal self mailers is that once sealed, the mailer is often damaged when an attempt is made to unseal it. The unsealing is typically effected by tearing the tape at the point where it is folded by inserting a finger between the leaves of the sealed material and running the finger along the length of the sealed edge. Hopefully, only the tape is torn and the sealed material may then be opened. A knife may be used, or one may also attempt to peel the tape away from the surface of the media. In the case where a finger or similar dull instrument is used, it is well known that the sealed media may give way before the tape is broken. Sometimes, the tape is not broken at all, rather the media is torn in the course of attempting to open it.
One solution to the media tearing problem is through the use of tabs or tape that have a line of perforations along the crease of the tab or tape fold. The perforations serve the purpose of making the tab or tape weaker along the crease so that when the sealed material is forced open, the tab or tape tears instead of the media. This solution has disadvantages in that the tabbing apparatus must allow for either a) orienting of the pre-perforated tab pieces so that the tab perforation line ends up as the crease of the tab orb) some mechanism within the tabbing apparatus perforates the tab at the crease as a part of application of the tab.
No teaching or prior art is available for the user who wishes to send out a small quantity of self-mailers, say from one to a thousand pieces, where the set-up and capital investment required of the high-volume tabber are unattractive. Such a user is now forced to purchase sets of tabs and apply them by hand, or use a common adhesive tape and apply the tape by hand to the self-mailer.